CALGARY, Alta. – Hockey Canada announced Wednesday the names of three individuals that will be the 2013
class of Distinguished Honourees of the Order of Hockey in Canada. These recipients will be honoured in April
at a special ceremony in Ottawa during the 2013 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship.

Hockey Canada introduced in April 2012 the Order of Hockey in Canada, a program that will annually honour
a select number of individuals whose ‘role or service in the game is recognized as extraordinary’ in Canada.

This class of three individuals brings the total of honourees to eight, after the first class was inducted
and honoured in spring 2012. The first class of Distinguished Honourees of the Order of Hockey in Canada
included Jean Béliveau, Cassie Campbell-Pascall, Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe and Gordon Renwick

The selection committee met on the morning of Dec. 12 and went through an election process that identified three new honourees:

Paul Henderson, 69, will forever be known as the player who scored The Goal, the game-winner with just 34 seconds remaining in Game 8 of the 1972 Summit Series, giving the Canadians the series victory thanks to wins in the final three games in Moscow. While his Game 8 winner is the goal that will always have a place in Canadian history, Henderson also scored the winner in Game 6 and Game 7, and finished with seven goals in eight games, tying with Phil Esposito for the Team Canada lead. The Kincardine, Ont., native represented his country for the second and final time during the 1974 Summit Series, scoring twice and adding one assist in seven games. Henderson played 707 NHL games with Detroit, Toronto and Atlanta, recording 477 points (236 goals, 241 assists), and added 283 points (140 goals, 143 assists) in 360 WHA games with Toronto and Birmingham.

Dave King, 64, is one of Canada’s most decorated coaches, having stood behind the Team Canada bench at Olympic Winter Games, IIHF World Championships and IIHF World Junior Championships. King was the head coach of Canada’s National Junior Team at the 1982 IIHF World Junior Championship, leading Canada to
its first World Junior gold, and returned the following year to win a bronze medal. He then started a long relationship with Canada’s National Men’s Team, serving as head coach at six IIHF World Championships and three Olympic Winter Games between 19, winning two world championship silver medals (1989, 1991) and one bronze (1983), along with an Olympic silver medal at the 1992 Games in Sarajevo. In addition to his international résumé, King has coached in North America at the university, WHL and NHL levels, as well as internationally in Germany, Sweden and Russia. He is one of the world’s most respected coaches, presenting at the Hockey Canada NCCP Level 5 program and International Coaches Conference, and has played a role in the design and implementation of the Hockey Canada Coach Mentorship Program and Hockey Canada Skills Academy Program. King was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1992, and earned induction into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2001.

Mark Messier, 49, was a six-time Stanley Cup champion, a two-time Hart Trophy winner as NHL MVP and played in 15 NHL All-Star Games in his 25-year career, during which he racked up 1,887 points (694 goals, 1193 assists) in 1,756 games, the second-highest total in NHL history. He remains the only player in hockey history to captain two teams to the Stanley Cup, with Edmonton in 1990 and the New York Rangers in 1994. Messier had extensive experience representing Canada at the international level as a player, including the 1984, 19 Canada Cups, 1989 IIHF World Championship and 1996 World Cup of Hockey. The St. Albert, Alta., native totalled nine goals and 23 assists for 32 points in 38 games playing for Canada. He returned to Team Canada in a management role in 2010, serving as Canada’s general manager at the IIHF World Championship, and was the head coach of Canada’s National Men’s Team at the 2010 Spengler Cup.

ORDER OF HOCKEY IN CANADA CRITERIA
Candidates for election as Distinguished Honourees of the Order of Hockey in Canada shall be chosen ‘on the basis of their outstanding contributions or service to the growth and development of the sport of hockey in Canada, which may include players, coaches, officials, administrators, executives, trainers, physicians, inventors or any other person whose role or service in the game is recognized as extraordinary.’

Candidates are eligible as long as they have concluded their career as an active player or official, if either is applicable, for a minimum of five playing seasons before their election. All other candidates maybe either active or inactive at the time of his or her selection. However, there will be no posthumous appointments to the Order of Hockey in Canada.

ORDER OF HOCKEY IN CANADA SELECTION PROCESS
A selection committee of 12 members was appointed by the Order of Hockey in Canada executive committee, which was established by Hockey Canada. The selection committee members, representing a cross-section of individuals with great and varied experience around the game of hockey in Canada, have been selected for a three-year term and can serve for a maximum of nine years. Each committee member can only bring forward one name as an official nomination for consideration annually. After inducting five individuals in the first group in the spring of 2012, as of 2013, there will be a maximum of three recipients annually.

The entire selection process is confidential, and the names of those candidates not selected will not be disclosed.